Federal Intrusion Detection, Cyber Early Warning and the Federal Response

Despite strengthened legislation, such as the Federal Information Security Reform Act (FISMA) and the U.S. Patriot Act, initiatives in favor of a cyber early warning system have yet to find staunch supporters outside of the Executive Branch. This paper evaluates Priority One of the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace, entitled 'Priority 1: A National Cyberspace Security Response System' through a contextual analysis of the evolution of cyber early warning in the United States and an evaluation of the underlying technical model. Without a thorough understanding of its evolution the casual reviewer of the new Strategy probably would not recognize the remnants of what was a contentious proposal to develop a cyber early warning and monitoring system called the Federal Intrusion Network (FIDNet). The repeated assaults on the debate over a centralized cyber early warning system have all but eliminated the last remnants from the National Plan. This paper critically analyzes the technical model for FIDNet its genesis within the Presidential Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection (PCCIP) and its evolution through several attempts at a National Plan to protect the United States' critical infrastructures.